If I can add my 2 cents worth: Hawks Coach knows that the bottomline authority of whether the game continues rests with the AD/Principal or whoever the highest ranking school employee in the gym is that night (like it or not that may even be the coach).

If whoever that is thinks that something going on during the game is way out of line and needs to be stopped they can tell the home team to change and go home, tell the Visitors/fans it is over and time to leave, turn of the scoreboard, and once the gym is cleared turn off the lights. The Ref at the time can claim they have complete jurisdiction over the game and declare a forfeit but if things ever got to a point that it was so bad the school official cancelled the game they probably aren't concerned over the win or loss anymore. -And depending on what happened/what the level of the game was, the principals may even be able to decide whether or not to replay or not.

This is not to justify or denounce what happaned. Just stating the reality that whoever is holding the keys to gym has ultimate authority of continuing or not-and will have to answer to their decisions the next day.

[Edited by oc on Feb 2nd, 2004 at 05:12 PM]

Re: Not the same coach.
 

I will also speak only for my state, but...


To become a coach, I had to:

--pass a criminal history check
--obtain a child abuse clearance
--submit a resume
--be interviewed twice
--be confirmed by an elected school board


To become an official, I had to:

--pay $25
--correctly answer 75 of 100 multiple-choice questions

After reading all of this discussion, I'm surprised the following scenario didn't occur:

Administrator approaches officials, tells the one that "swore" he's outta here. Partner T's the home team up for administrator verbally abusing the officials. Game continues with free throws to start the 3rd quarter.

That's how it would happen with me, and if the administrator persisted, I'd declare a forfeit. If the administrator raises a stink, I have the rule book to back me up and tell him to report me to my assignor.

Re: Re: Not the same coach.
 

I realize that your response was mainly to rebut the comment about who goes through more background checks. But I would hope every coach goes through some kind of background check based on the increasing number of occurrences of coaches abusing kids in one way or another. Coaches spend a lot of time alone with kids, on the court and in the locker room. Officials do not. That would explain any question about why all coaches should go through background checks and most officials probably wouldn't.

Only background check I had to go through as an official was one for the YMCA to work kids' games. Other than that, we just pay the fee, go to the rules meeting(s), and pass the test, then go to work.

I know when I worked for an association in Seattle, you had to go through a criminal background check.

It does happen in some places. Little League is stepping up its insistence on these things for anyone involved with the programs.

And the administrator turns and signels for the county police offer(s) on hand to escort the ref off of school grounds. The county school board or superintendent of schools the next day calls in the head off the officials association and reads him the riot act. Warns that the association will be blackballed if their refs don’t cleanup their act. The day after that, a designated member of the state board of education or the state superintendent of schools calls the state officials sanctioning body and tells them that all of this has really gotten out of hand. He/she reminds the official organization that the principal of a school has 100% control of everything that happens on school grounds. Any problems with the actions of the principal are handled through normal school channels.

[Edited by RecRef on Feb 2nd, 2004 at 10:56 AM]

Re: Re: Not the same coach.
 

That sounds all wonderful, but I have known coaches to be accused of child molestation chargers and have not had to lose their jobs. In my state if an official is just accused of a sexual assault of a minor or be accused of a drug felony, we can lose or get our licences suspended, no questions asked. No due process. And then if we are aquited, then we might be able to resume what we do. Many coaches are teachers and have unions and policies that prevent them from being fired. These things are not exactly the same thing.

Peace

I sometimes wish the game would end when we are getting thumped, but NEVER have I wished for a game to be suspended for how it was called or how we were doing.

This kind of comment is completely without basis and has nothing to do with anything I have stated in this thread. I have repeated stated that I would expect it to be an extreme circumstance for game management to feel they had to step in and end a game. And if I were either coach in this game, I would feel like my players lost out, even if the call had to be made to kick out a ref.

I hate games getting stopped for anything, snow, the other team forfeiting, - anything. I just love game day. While I might support a decision like this on further reflection, my initial reaction would probably be pretty negative.

RecRef, if the administrator turned to police to escort the referee out of the gym, I would hope he'd lose his administrative and teaching certificate/license and be blackballed to the point he/she couldn't get a job in education anywhere. This would go to the point that administrators have to know where to draw the line.

It sounds like the administrator in the original posting decided he agrees with the people who pays his salary more than the referee. If that becomes a habit, then my suggestion would be noone qualifies for an educational administrator certificate without becoming a sports official on top ot it. I know what I just said is probably blasphemous, but I don't care. There are some administrators out there who don't belong in the chair they were hired to fill.